Cable outage isn’t reason to call 911

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Missing a favorite television show does not constitute a life-threatening emergency. Unfortunately, the Fairfield, Conn., police had to remind the public of that via Facebook on Aug. 18 when 911 dispatchers were flooded with calls about a local Cablevision outage. Yes, the cable provider’s service hotline was also reportedly overwhelmed with calls, a valid consumer complaint, but not one for the first responders — even if the Yankees and Red Sox are playing or a new episode of “Breaking Bad” is about to start.

The notice appropriately warned that misuse of the 911 system can lead to an arrest. In this instance, however, releasing the 911 tapes identifying the get-a-life TV addicts who called the police to reconnect their cable may be reprimand enough.